Tag: Japan - Page 14

Pete Bethune, captain of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's now-sunken Ady Gil, has been given a two-year suspended sentence for boarding the whaler Shonan Maru #2 in an attempt to make a citizen's arrest of the

Around $16.5k in JapanHonda seems to have figured that if it isn't going to win the hybrid war on technology, it should at least try to win based on price. The first salvo was the Insight hybrid V2.0, which was about $3k less than the 3rd

While the environmental impact from fuels like gas and coal are well-known, Japan has now set its sights on folks who burn the midnight oil. In hopes of reducing the nation's carbon output, the Japanese Environment Ministry

It's rare that a whaling peace plan falling apart could be a good thing, but for considering that the one being negotiated in Morocco, which would effectively sanction the actions of whaling nations Japan, Norway, and Iceland,

Just as the International Whaling Commission is about to get together to try to break the impasse between non-whaling nations and the trio of scofflaws (most prominently Japan), another Japanese whistleblower has come forward.

Critics of the legitimacy of Japan's whaling fleet's claims that they are conducting scientific research and not just conducting a covert commercial whale hunt have long said that whale meat was being sold on the sly. Now a former whaler--calling himself

On the heels of an International Whaling Commission meeting slated for later this month to discuss the future prospects of commercial hunts, conscience and moral imperatives may not be the only thing influencing the countries

After working diligently to raise money to translate The Cove into Japanese, and advocating like crazy to get it allowed into theaters in the country, the team behind the ground-breaking documentary is finding it is being met with little enthusiasm.

Whale meat on sale at the Tsukiji fish market in Japan, photo: Stefan Powell.
Threatened for some time now, Australia has begun legal action against Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean. Formal proceedings will begin in The Hague next week and

Japanese artist and designer Arakawa (no first name) and his partner Madeline Gins believed that their house could keep them alive and fit. In our post in 2008 she said "It's immoral that people have to die."

Japan's Triumph International has done it again. Each year, we see some seriously crazy ideas for bras. In the past, it's been everything from saving energy with a breast-warming bra to turning your bra into a reusable shopping

An ancient, jelly-like invasive organism from Japan has been discovered along Oregon's coast. It's being called "very, very scary" by an invasive species specialist and can smother shellfish beds and coat boat hulls, docks and water

The bulk of the focus on the plight of the bluefin tuna has been on the Atlantic population. Understandable considering that at current fishing levels the iconic species will be extinct within a couple of years.

Outside of Remy in Ratatouille, we have not considered the intersection of mushrooms and lightning, but the rat was on to something. In Japan, farming folklore that suggested that lightning made mushrooms grow faster; now scientists have tested the

Sketches by Azby Brown
Azby Brown has lived in Japan for 25 years, and writes a wonderful long article in Design Observer about how traditional Japanese culture was sustainable by design. He writes:
During the Edo period, from the early 17th to the mid

In Japan, room sizes are not measured in feet or meters, but in mats, based on multiples of the standardized tatami mats that were traditionally used to cover floors. They have fallen out of favour, but designer Shin Yamashita has reinvented them in a